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The Food Allergy Counselor

Functioning with Food Allergies

Published over 2 years ago • 3 min read

Hi Reader,

As I mentioned in the last Allergy Counseling Zone email, my recent fall conference preparations means that there's a lot of useful information at my fingertips to share with all of you!

Since we previously used a developmental lens to look at the impacts food allergy has on people, let's now take a different view by looking through a functional lens.

More specifically, let's look at exploring how food allergy impacts functioning in these four areas: mental health, behavioral health, physical health, and social health/quality of life.

  1. Impacts on Mental Health Functioning - Any chronic health condition has the potential to impact a person's mental health, including food allergies. Research how shown that food allergy anxiety is different than generalized anxiety, that distress levels (not diagnosable anxiety disorders) tend to be higher in kids with food allergy than non-allergic kids, and that Post Traumatic Stress Symptoms (PTSS) can increase after experiencing anaphylaxis.
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    Therefore, it's important to ask exploratory questions or use formalized assessments to evaluate the impacts that food allergies have on mental health in order to effectively address these impacts. In addition to our Food Allergy Psychosocial Intake Forms, it's good to know about the following valid assessment tools: SOFAA (pediatric FA anxiety assessment), IMPAACT (parental FA anxiety and coping), FAQLQ (FA quality of life for kids, teens, parents, adults), and FAMAS (FA management and adaption).
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  2. Impacts on Behavioral Health Functioning - It's also useful to explore how food allergies impact the actions individuals and families take, or how they function in life. Do they excessively avoid life experiences (as a function of seeking control)? Are parents over-accommodating beyond what's necessary for their child (as a function of calming their own FA anxiety)? How is their daily functioning impacted while managing food allergies? Focus on exploring behaviors in response to AND as a result of food allergies.
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  3. Impacts on Physical Health Functioning - While medical aspects of health are outside of the scope of practice for mental health practitioners, it's important for us to understand how food allergies impact physical health functioning. Do the practicalities of finding safe foods or accessibility issues impact the individual or family's nutritional needs? Is the individual avoiding "safe enough" foods, which may now be taking a toll on their physical health. While we can't treat these concerns, we can help individuals and families become aware of them, and then encourage them to reach out to their medical providers for guidance.
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  4. Impacts on Social Health Functioning - Connected with behavioral health functioning, it's important to consider how food allergies impact social health functioning. Yes, social health has to do with social experiences, but it's also about relationships and support - all of which can impact mental, physical and behavioral functioning, too. Is the individual and/or family able to engage in meaningful relationships with others while managing their food allergies? Are their food allergy management guidelines so rigid (in service of safety) that it's creating relationship concerns? Are they experiencing a lack of community support? We want to help these individuals and families assess these social health areas, offer supportive resources, and potentially teach them how to balance safety AND connectedness in a way that's workable for them.

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So glad to connect with you again! In the next Allergy Counseling Zone email, I'll share the third and final lens to consider using when exploring the psychosocial impacts of food allergies. And stay tuned for news about the NEW and IMPROVED Food Allergy Counselor website!

You're always welcome to respond to this email to say hi and let me know what you'd like to read about in future emails - I love hearing from you all. And as always, don't forget to take good care of yourself, too!

Founder & CEO, The Food Allergy Counselor
Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor
AAAAI & ACAAI Allied Health Member

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DISCLAIMER: The information provided here is for educational purposes only and is not intended to replace the medical or mental healthcare advice of your own healthcare provider. By reading this email, the reader acknowledges that there is no therapist-patient relationship between them and the author(s). If you think you are observing a medical or mental health emergency, call 911 immediately.​
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The Food Allergy Counselor

Tamara Hubbard, MA, LCPC

I'm Tamara Hubbard, MA, LCPC - a licensed therapist, national speaker, author of May Contain Anxiety: Managing the Overwhelm of Parenting Children with Food Allergies (Johns Hopkins University Press), and founder of both FoodAllergyCounselor.com and the Academy of Food Allergy Counseling and its therapist directory. My monthly emails share practical tips on managing food allergy anxiety, caregiver stress, and the emotional impact of managing food allergies, plus allergy community news and my book updates. I look forward to connecting!

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